Marjorie Plum was the most popular girl in high school but now a decade into her adult life, things aren’t going so well. Her friend and flatmate Vera dumps her to move in with her boyfriend, her horrible boss fires her from a job she despises anyway and she can’t even move in with her parents, because they want to renovate her old bedroom. So instead Marjorie has to find a new direction, moving in with a quirky new flatmate, dating an old high school friend, mentoring a young teen and looking for a new career.
This story, set during 2012 when President Obama was contesting his second term, centres around the concept that for some people, their high school days may actually be the best years of their lives. For twenty-something Marjorie, what happens when she starts failing at life? This is an interesting read that will resonate with many facing a similar transition.
Will You Won't You Want Me?, by Nora Zelevansky, is about growing up when you are already supposed to be grown. The summary says: "Marjorie Plum never meant to peak in high school. She was Queen Bee. Now, 10 years later, she's lost her sparkle. At her bleakest moment, she's surprised by renewed interest from a questionable childhood crush, and the bickering with her cranky boss - at a potentially game-changing new job - grows increasingly like flirtatious banter. Suddenly, she's faced with a choice between the life she always dreamed of and one she never thought to imagine. With the help of a precocious 11-year-old tutee, who unknowingly becomes the Ghost of Marjorie Past, and a musician roommate, who looks like a pixie and talks like the Dalai Lama, Marjorie struggles with the ultimate question: Who does she want to be?" Will You Won't You Want Me? is out in April 2016.